The world is undergoing significant challenges as a result of coronavirus. People are losing their lives and livelihoods and the economic and health systems of many countries are being disrupted. However, not all countries are equally affected, nor do they have equal resources and policies to support recovery for some of their most vulnerable groups. Coronavirus is a particularly critical challenge for poorer countries in the Global South that have weaker public health and economic systems, such as Mozambique. Within these countries, migrants and refugees struggle to make ends meet even in the best of times, and COVID-19 risks deepening their vulnerabilities.
Mozambique currently has 81 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and, to prevent the spread of this disease, the country ordered a partial lockdown. Schools have been closed, non-essential businesses have been advised to reduce activity, and mobility has been restricted. The country was already one of the poorest in the world (ranked 181 out of 187 countries in the latest UNDP Human Development Index), with nearly half the country living below the poverty line. Refugees and asylum seekers are among this population, officially numbering around 39,000—although this number is likely higher as many live in urban areas across the country.
Even pre-coronavirus, Mozambique had little capacity to absorb these individuals in the (relatively small) formal employment sector. Moreover, while Mozambique is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and other refugee-related international commitments, most refugees continue to lack a legal status and working rights within the country—not least due to chronic delays in the asylum application process. As a result, the majority of refugees in the country have had little choice but to pursue insecure informal livelihoods, often living hand-to-mouth on daily wages.
Since the lockdown began on 1st April 2020, this work has significantly contracted, exposing severe weaknesses in the national protection regime. The biggest threat facing refugee communities in Mozambique at the moment is arguably less the health impacts of COVID-19, and more the immediate and long-term impacts of livelihood loss.
Lockdown is necessary in many ways, since it is aimed at preserving the health security of all human beings within its national boundaries—and mirrors similar preventive measures taken by countries across the globe, including India. However, faced with partial lockdown, refugees are left with few options for survival. The government is providing minimal emergency assistance in the form of food subsidies and hygiene material, but only to targeted vulnerable citizens. The United Nations refugee agency is only assisting refugees in camps, and even then just with basic materials. There is no employment subsidy, and the government has ruled out paying formal or informal worker wages during this state of emergency. Many refugees (and other migrants and informal workers who fall between the gaps of state support) are faced with a stark choice: continue to pursue some form of work and run the risk of being infected by the disease, or stay at home and risk being unable to put food on the table, pay rent or basic utilities. For some there is no option of breaking lockdown, as not all informal markets have re-opened due to social distancing restrictions.
While this current state of emergency threatens all impoverished families—refugee, migrant and citizen—the precarious legal status of refugees in the country means that they might find longer-term recovery more challenging. The government of Mozambique made reservations to Articles 17 and 19 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, meaning that Mozambique does not officially recognise a refugee’s right to employment. This has already limited refugee opportunities to secure permanent jobs and social insurance. Since lockdown, businesses have been letting large numbers of staff go, increasing overall employment challenges in the country. With no obligation for employers to take on refugees as unemployment rises, no social security guaranteed for refugees without work, and the likelihood of increasing food prices from disrupted market systems, refugees face escalating stressors. There is no option to return to their home countries, where conflict renders repatriation unsafe.
Similar to India, this pandemic has exposed gaps in social security and protection that will only deepen the vulnerability of already-struggling groups. Unlike India, Mozambique has nationally committed to refugee protection. Yet, in the midst of this crisis, those commitments seem hollow. Without the right to work, and without inclusive national relief programmes, refugees across the world will continue to face heightened risk. COVID-19 exposes the need for governments to commit to more inclusive protection and equal rights, particularly in countries with fragile economies.
留言